The Lark

I have to admit. I went to The Lark about a month ago and had a pretty poor experience. My waitress did not know much about what gluten-free meant and I definitely did not dine with confidence. However, my Celiac comrade told me about her experience which had been much different. This past week, we both went back and it was like night and day. I had a different waitress who clearly knew what she was talking about. First off, I like any restaurant that serves popcorn instead of the usual bread. The popcorn had mint, ginger, cilantro, lime salt, lime zest, chile de Arbol and olive oil. We easily polished off a few bowls of this. We then shared their new Autumn Kale Salad. This had pepitas, roasted apples, pomegranates and pecorino. It was plenty to share as a first course. For our second course, we shared the Half Roasted Mary’s Chicken.

This comes as a half or a whole chicken. The half was enough for both of us. It was served with a brown butter polenta, spinach, charred figs, shallots and chicken jus. For dessert, we shared the Milk Chocolate Pot de Creme.

I was not a huge fan of the smoked almond brittle that was on top of it. It was one of the reasons the dessert initially sounded appealing, but I found the smokiness way too overwhelming. The chocolate portion was very good though. Overall, my experience this time around was much better. I just hope that it wasn’t a fluke and that all of the servers and kitchen staff are being properly trained on what is and isn’t gluten-free and what cross contamination is. If I had one complaint about the evening, it was that they should have a less expensive sparkling water option. Paying $8 for a bottle of sparkling water seems crazy when a lot of restaurants are now offering it complimentary. And why was I drinking sparking water when they have some tasty sounding libations? I am excited to announce that come March, there will be a new addition to the glutenfreeinsb family!

Tags: funk zone, gluten free, popcorn, santa barbara